Fortunately, the confidence the network has in the series seems to be paying off, as the materials have already garnered significant interest and attention. Now the network has released two teaser trailers for the series – the first one you can see above – which are brimming with creepy atmosphere and subtly disturbing imagery.

The trailers do a great job of establishing that creepy, haunting quality that the “Master of Suspense” cultivated with his 1960 horror masterpiece. In just 30 seconds – nearly 15 seconds per trailer – that sense of dread and fear that was palpable throughout Psycho returns, and that’s definitely a good sign.

The first teaser places us directly inside the terrifying Bates Motel, slowly panning over to a sink that looks innocent enough, but the Inception-esque music tells us otherwise. Then, as the one-shot pulls back, it reveals someone’s arms and hands cuffed to the sink’s pipe underneath it. Could this be one of Norman’s first victims? He’s only 16 when the series begins, so does this mean his violent tendencies reveal themselves early on? As the teaser ends, we’re left to wonder.

In similar fashion, the second teaser gives us glimpse at another murder. The shot pans over across a lake shore scene at night, then tilts up, showing a hanging, burning body, but only from the knees down. Again, we don’t get to see much, leaving us only to speculate what led to this horrific event.

The brief synopsis, also courtesy of Entertainment Weekly, sets up the story for the series premiere, titled “First You Dream, Then You Die.” Check it out:

“Norma Bates buys a motel on the outskirts of an idyllic coastal town seeking a fresh start with her teenage son, the handsome and shy Norman.”

Hopefully, Bates Motel will place an emphasis on psychological horror and suspense, a la Psycho. There’s a reason Hitchcock was known as the “Master of Suspense.” He created tension and built suspense without showing much violence at all, even though many of his films were considered to be graphic at the time. It was the music, the slow-burn pacing and the audience’s anticipation of violence that created the horror - an approach few horror films take today. These days, horror audiences seem to crave gore, so we’ll see just how explicit Bates Motel ends up being and if it favors more psychological and suspenseful scares.

I think we’re all more interested and eager to see how the series develops Norman’s character and how he transforms into the psychotic killer we know and love.

Agree that they NEED to hold back on ANY overt/graphic violence. Tonally it obviously needs to fit in with the original. And lets face it, gore is pretty easy to do, suspense and intricate writing takes skill/effort. An art form that is being lost in today’s ‘let’s show everything’ media culture. Less IS more.

Keeping my fingers crossed – I love those two teaser trailers. If they keep it at that level of shocks/horror I’ll be happy, and Hitchcock won’t be turning over in his grave & plotting revenge

P.S. let’s hope it also has a sense of humour in places too – Psycho was full of sly humour, as was Mr Hitchcock! I hope this isn’t a relentless Nolan-esque ‘gritty’ bummer of a show from start to finsh…

OK my hopes are already dashed for this being a true prequel to the Hitchcock classic… seen some further publicity shots, and Norman has an iPod in one of them. Great! Way to go… let’s set in in present times because audiences couldn’t possibly stomach something set in the 50s…!

Very.

Bad.

Move.

Why not create something else instead if they aren’t going to stay true to the time frame?!! Or is this a prequel to the Psycho remake?